Yarn texturing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Yarn is textured by passage at an elevated temperature into a zone of turbulence. The resulting textured yarn is passed through a first chamber defined by a sleeve into a second chamber which contains a plurality of stacked balls. These balls exert a force on the yarn to produce a confined wad. Fluid employed to produce the turbulence zone is separated from the textured yarn in the two chambers.

United States Patent Caffry [451 Sept. 26, 1972 [541 YARN TEXTURING APPARATUS [72] Inventor: John B. Caffry, Greenville, S.C.

[73] Assignee: Phillips Petroleum Company [22] Filed: Dec. 28, 1970 [211 App]. No.: 102,014

[52] US. CL; ..28/l.6 511 Int. Cl. ..D02g 1/12 {58] Field of Search ..28/l.6, 72.14

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,949,659 8/1960 'Heijnis et al ..28/l.6 3,153,271 10/1964 Eshuis ..2 8/l.6

Schippers et a1. ..28/1.7 Stanley ..28/ l .6

Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney-Young & Quigg [57 ABSTRACT Yarn is textured by passage at an elevated temperature into a zone of turbulence. The resulting textured yarn is passed through a first chamber defined by a sleeve into a second chamber which contains a plurality of stacked balls. These balls exert a force on the yarn to produce a confined wad. Fluid employed to produce the turbulence zone is separated from the textured yarn in the two chambers,

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures YARN TEXTURING APPARATUS Synthetic fibers are commonly produced by extruding molten polymer through a spinneret. In order to produce yarns which have properties approximating those of wool or other natural materials, it is common practice to subject the extrudate from the spinneret to a texturing process. This can be accomplished by a variety of procedures known in the art, such as stufferbox crimping, false twisting, and fluid jet texturing. One particularly effective procedure involves contacting the fiber with a high velocity fluid stream in a turbulent zone at an elevated temperature. The turbulence imparted to the fiber produces crimps which give the fiber a textured appearance. While such a procedure is effective in imparting crimp to the fiber, problems are often encountered in removing the material from the turbulent zone and removing the fluid from the textured fiber. Although various types of removal equipment are known, a need still exists for a more efficient method of removing yarn from a fluid texturing zone.

In accordance with this invention, the textured yarn from a fluid crimping zone is passed through a first chamber defined by a sleeve into a second chamber which contains a plurality of balls. The textured yarn forms an elongated yarn wad which extends through the chambers. The sleeve is formed at least in part by spaced rods or fingers to provide openings in the side of the sleeve. The balls in the second chamber exert a force on the sides of the wad to confine the wad in a generally cylindrical configuration. The fluid introduced into the turbulent zone is permitted to escape through the openings in the sleeve and the voids between the individual balls. The resulting textured yarn can easily be removed from the top of the wad as it emerges from the second chamber.

In the accompanying drawing,

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the apparatus of this invention which is employed to texture yarn.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the sleeve.

Referring now to the drawing in detail and to FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown fluid texturing apparatus generally designated by reference numeral 10. This apparatus comprises an elongated sleeve 11 which has a hollow needle 12 positionedin the inlet section thereof. An elongated plug 14 is disposed in the outlet section of sleeve 11. Plug 14 has a central opening 14b therethrough which forms a first passage. The inlet of opening 14b is tapered to provide a seat 140 adjacent the tip of needle 12. The outlet of central opening 14b constitutes a flared section 14c of increasing diameter. A conduit 17 communicates with sleeve 11 adjacent needle 12 to introduce a fluid, such as steam or air, at an elevated temperature.

A hollow chamber 18 having an inlet tube 18a, which together with the flared outlet section 14c of plug 14 forms a second passage, is mounted immediately above sleeve 11 to receive yarn which is crimped in apparatus 10. A large number of relatively small balls 19a and 19b are disposed within chamber 18. Chamber 18 can be provided with an outlet conduit 21 which is connected to a drain or to a source of reduced pressure, not shown. A screen 210 is positioned across conduit 21 to retain balls 19a and 19b within chamber 18. A plurality of rods 23, see FIG. 2, extend longitudinally through chamber 18 to define a sleeve in the lower region of the chamber. These rods are sufficiently close together to prevent the balls from entering the sleeve. One of the rods, 23a, extends above the remainder of the rods and inwardly to the axis of the sleeve.

In the operation of the illustrated apparatus, one or more filaments 200 are inserted through needle 12 into the central passage of plug 14. These filaments can be delivered to the apparatus by any suitable feed means, not shown. In the normal start-up operation, the filaments are threaded completely through the apparatus. Fluid is introduced through conduit 17 and flows upwardly through plug 14 into chamber 18. The fluid so introduced surrounds needle 12 to elevate the temperature of the incoming filaments as they move through a third passage formed by the opening through needle 12. The velocity of the introduced fluid is sufficiently high to produce a zone of substantial turbulence in the flared outlet region of plug 14. This turbulence imparts crimp to the filaments to produce textured yarn 20b. The yarn passes upwardly to form an elongated generally cylindrical wad 20c in the region between rods 23. The wad emerging from this region is surrounded and confined by balls 19a and 19b. The yarn is cooled in passing through chamber 18 so that permanent crimps are imparted. The resulting textured yarn 20d is removed through a takeup device 22 and passed to a storage zone, not shown.

As previously mentioned, the velocity and temperature of the fluid introduced through conduit 17 are such as to impart the desired degree of crimp in the yarn in the flared outlet section of plug 14 and in tube 18a. If desired, an external heater can be employed to assist in elevating the temperature of the crimping apparatus 10. The texturing fluid passes upwardly and escapes from the open top of chamber 18. This fluid escapes from the yarn wad between rods 23 and between the surrounding balls, both in the region of rods 23 and above this region. When steam is employed as the texturing fluid, it may be desirable to provide vent conduit 21 to remove any condensate which may be formed. The sleeve formed by rods 23 confines the yarn wad to a general cylindrical configuration and serves to direct thewad upwardly through the central region of chamber 18. Balls 19a and 19b provide sufficient force to retain the yarn wad emerging from the sleeve in a confined central portion of the upper region of chamber 18 for a period of time sufficient to allow the yarn to be cooled to retain a permanent crimp. These balls can be formed of metal, glass or any other material which is inert to the yarn at the temperatures encountered. The balls are advantageously of spherical configuration, but this is not essential to the operation of the invention. As illustrated, balls 19a are larger than balls 19b to provide better packing. However, the balls can all be the same size. The height of the balls in chamber 18 should be sufficient to permit the yarn to be cooled before removal from the chamber. Although longer rod 23a is not essential to satisfactory operation of the apparatus of this invention, it assists in the initial break-up of the yarn wad prior to removal from the top of chamber 18.

Any type of synthetic fiber which can be textured by the application of external forces at elevated temperatures can be treated by the process of this invention. Typical fibers which can be so treated are polyolefins, nylons and polyesters, for example.

in one specific example of this invention as illustrated in FIG. 1, needle 12 has an internal diameter of about 0.06 inch. The end of needle 12 is tapered at an angle of about 45, as is flared inlet 14a of plug 14. The central passage 14b is about 1% inches in length and has an internal diameter of about 0.125 inch. The flared outlet 14c is about one-fourth inch in length and has an outlet diameter of about one half inch. Balls 19a have a diameter of about one-fourth inch; and balls 19b have a diameter of about one-eighth inch. Approximately 70 percent of the total number of balls in chamberl8 are balls 19a. Chamber 18 has an internal diameter of about 3 inches, with the depth of balls being about 6 inches. Rods 23 are approximately 3 inches long, and rod 23a extends about 1 inch above rods 23. The rods are about one-eighth inch in diameter and are sufficiently close together to prevent the balls from passing therethrough.

In one specific mode of operation, a bundle of 126 polypropylene filaments having a denier of about 1,800 (approximately 14 denier per filament) is introduced at a velocity of about 750 meters per minute. Steam at 100 psig is-introduced at a rate of about pounds per hour. The textured yarn is removed at a velocity of about 500 meters per minute.

In the embodiment of this invention illustrated in FIG. 3, the rods are replaced by a sleeve 25 which has slots 26 formed in the upper portion thereof. The slots result in a plurality of fingers 27 which correspond to the rods of FIGS. 1 and 2. Although not shown, one of these fingers can be provided with an upward extension corresponding to rod 23a.

While this invention has been described in conjunction with presently preferred embodiments, it obviously is not limited thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for texturing yarn comprising:

means forming a first passage through which yarn to be textured can be directed, said first passage having an inlet and an outlet for the yarn;

means forming a second passage of greater cross-sectional area at the outlet thereof than at the inlet, the inlet of said second passage being connected to the outlet of said first passage;

conduit means communicating with the inlet of said first passage to introduce a fluid;

a chamber of cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area at the outlet of said second passage, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of said chamber being connected to the outlet of said second passage; a plurality of individual stacked members disposed in said chamber, said members being free to move in said chamber so as to be displaced by an elongated wad of yarn which is formed in said chamber when yarn and fluid are passed through said first and second passages into said chamber, whereby the members exert pressure on the sides of such a yarn wad; and a sleeve disposed in said chamber adjacent the inlet thereof to form an extension of said second passage, said sleeve having openings in the sides thereof to permit fluid to pass therethrough, the length of said sleeve being substantially less than the length of said chamber from the inlet to the outlet thereof. 2. The apparatus of claim I wherein said sleeve comprises a plurality of rods spaced from one another and defining a generally cylindrical sleeve.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein one of said rods is of greater length than the other rods and extends beyond the other rods and into a region along the axis of the sleeve.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is a solid member provided with a plurality of slots therein to form the openings in the sides thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said stacked members comprise balls.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said balls include balls of different sizes.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising textured yarn take-up means spaced from the outlet of said chamber to remove textured yarn from a wad of yarn formed in said chamber.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first passage is cylindrical and said second passage is of truncated conical configuration.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means forming a third passage spaced from the inlet of said first passage so that yarn directed through said third passage enters the inlet of said first passage, and said conduit means communicates with a region exterior of said third passage so that fluid introduced through said conduit means passes in heat exchange relationship with said third passage prior to being introduced into said first passage.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a vent communicating with said chamber to remove condensate formed within said chamber. 

1. Apparatus for texturing yarn comprising: means forming a first passage through which yarn to be textured can be directed, said first passage having an inlet and an outlet for the yarn; means forming a second passage of greater cross-sectional area at the outlet thereof than at the inlet, the inlet of said second passage being connected to the outlet of said first passage; conduit means communicating with the inlet of said first passage to introduce a fluid; a chamber of cross-sectional area greater than the crosssectional area at the outlet of said second passage, said chamber having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of said chamber being connected to the outlet of said second passage; a plurality of individual stacked members disposed in said chamber, said members being free to move in said chamber so as to be displaced by an elongated wad of yarn which is formed in said chamber when yarn and fluid are passed through said first and second passages into said chamber, whereby the members exert pressure on the sides of such a yarn wad; and a sleeve disposed in said chamber adjacent the inlet thereof to form an extension of said second passage, said sleeve having openings in the sides thereof to permit fluid to pass therethrough, the length of said sleeve being substantially less than the length of said chamber from the inlet to the outlet thereof.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sleeve comprises a plurality of rods spaced from one another and defining a generally cylindrical sleeve.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein one of said rods is of greater length than the other rods and extends beyond the other rods and into a region along the axis of the sleeve.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is a solid member provided with a plurality of slots therein to form the openings in the sides thereof.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said stacked members comprise balls.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said balls include balls of different sizes.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, furthEr comprising textured yarn take-up means spaced from the outlet of said chamber to remove textured yarn from a wad of yarn formed in said chamber.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first passage is cylindrical and said second passage is of truncated conical configuration.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means forming a third passage spaced from the inlet of said first passage so that yarn directed through said third passage enters the inlet of said first passage, and said conduit means communicates with a region exterior of said third passage so that fluid introduced through said conduit means passes in heat exchange relationship with said third passage prior to being introduced into said first passage.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a vent communicating with said chamber to remove condensate formed within said chamber. 